Central Arkansas Cardiology

Nuclear Cardiology

Nuclear cardiology allows your physician to detect blockages in the heart's blood vessels. By using weakly radioactive substances, pictures are generated determining how the blood flows to your heart muscle. Typically, pictures are obtained using some sort of stress. Typically, a treadmill exercise test is performed in conjunction with nuclear cardiology pictures. If you are unable to walk on a treadmill, or on the advice of your doctor, safe medications can be used instead. The total radiation dose is less than a chest x-ray.

Nuclear Cardiology services at Central Arkansas Cardiology provide a key tool to the diagnosis and management of adults with heart disease. The following services are available:

Exercise and Rest Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (also called a MIBI, Cardiolyte, Myoview, or Thallium stress tests): The noninvasive assessment of coronary artery disease via treadmill stress testing which can detect blockages significant enough to prevent adequate blood flow to the heart during exercise. These tests also definitively examine any damage done to the heart from prior heart attacks and can determine viability of heart muscle which may return to normal function if appropriately revascularized (i.e. with angioplasty or bypass surgery.) They also provide a highly accurate assessment of the contracting performance of your heart - both regional wall motion and ejection fraction of the left ventricle.
Pharmacologic Stress Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (Adenosine stress test) Uses medications which simulate the physiologic effect of exercise (instead of exercise) in those who are unable to perform on a treadmill test. The same assessment of coronary blood flow and left ventricular function may then be performed as in the exercise perfusion imaging.
Radionuclide Ventriculography (also called a RNV or MUGA test): The noninvasive ability to evaluate the contraction pattern of your heart. We can determine the left ventricular global and regional function including calculation of left ventricular ejection fraction, assessment of regional wall motion, aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms.